Significant Boost in Weekend Ridership? MARTA Handles it Like A “Breeze”

For one of the busiest
weekends of the New Year, MARTA easily demonstrated why it continues to earn
accolades for its Operations and Customer Service.

Over a two-day period
that was historic for Atlanta in many ways, MARTA saw a 30 percent increase in its
usual ridership for Saturday because of the Women’s March and the Atlanta Hawks
game. MARTA typically logs about 90,000 trips for a regular Saturday; however,
nearly 120,000 customers made MARTA their ride of choice. For the National
Football Championship Game on Sunday, the country’s ninth largest transit
agency provided a stress-free travel experience to 108,000 customers (up from
the usual 40,000) who went to the Georgia Dome to cheer on the Super Bowl-bound
Atlanta Falcons.

“MARTA consistently proves its daily commitment
to routine excellence in every way, and especially during large-scale events,”
said MARTA
GM/CEO Keith T. Parker. “Time and again our dedicated employees have shown that
they’re more than ready to get our customers to their destinations easily,
conveniently and at a great price.”

According to MARTA Police, there were no incidents
reported on the system.

“I am very proud of the exceptional way MARTA Police
handled this surge in additional customers,” said MPD Chief Wanda Y. Dunham. “This
was a text-book experience for everything that could go right. It goes without
saying that we were working under an unusual set of circumstances, and our
officers rose to the challenge of providing excellent customer service.”

MARTA customers were encouraged to take transit over
the busy weekend and to purchase a round-trip fare at the beginning of their
trip to avoid the long lines and potential wait upon the return.